The present invention relates to a fastening system wherein the through-bolts of the stator of an electric motor may be used for securing a member to the motor. In one type of prior system, a muffler plate for a hermetic compressor is attached to the stator. Defining the stator are generally rectangular laminates or stamped plates which are stacked together. Each of the laminates includes a central opening for the motor rotor, and a hole at each corner for receiving a through-bolt. When stacked to form the stator, the laminates are held together by tightening the through-bolts in support members disposed beneath the lower laminate and the muffler plate is attached to the upper ends of the bolts.
Another arrangement for securing the stator laminates together while also providing means for attaching parts to an electric motor is disclosed in Church et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,465,182.
One of the difficulties encountered in utilizing the stator through-bolts for attaching a part to an electric motor is that, during the manufacturing process and in the assembly of the stator, the laminates may become bowed or dish-shaped so that, when inserted into the holes, the through-bolts on one side of the stator tend to spread apart while the opposite ends of the through-bolts tend to move closer together. As a result, standardization of a hole pattern in a member to be mounted on the ends of the through-bolts becomes difficult because the degree to which the stator is bowed may be different from one stator to the next.
One solution to this problem is disclosed in Fagley U.S. Pat. No. 2,479,330 wherein the bowing or bulging of the stator laminates is stated to be eliminated by utilizing spring washer spacers to separate certain laminations of the stator.